Please note this blog was updated on 25 April 2013 to reflect the fact the clip which is discussed was produced in 2005 and Peter Brabeck has since updated his position - that water is a human right, but not a free good

In an interview produced for the documentary We Feed the World, Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck claimed that considering water a human right is an extreme solution. The video, which has recently been circulating in social media, is in fact from 2005 and Brabeck has since updated his position. However, it highlights the most common misconception about the human rights to water and sanitation which is still prevalent today - that it entails an obligation to provide a free supply of water to meet people's basic needs.

There are so many important issues and priorities to include in the future post Millennium Development Goal agenda. From my perspective of working on WASH in Rwanda, I believe that an emphasis on local and context-specific projects that prioritise water resource management and sustainability is essential as well acknowledging the role the private sector can play in meeting water and sanitation needs.